Thursday, December 18, 2008

As I was driving home this afternoon I heard this story on NPR -- an interview with Shirley Corriher about her new book Bakewise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking. When asked to name her favorite cookie recipe for this time of year (i.e., the yule season), her answer was Chocolate Crinkle Cookies. They definitely look cool, and I'm planning to try this recipe soon. (The recipe is at the NPR website.)

Finally, before I sign off tonight, I'm going to post the most-requested recipe in my repertoire. EVERY time I make this, at least one person asks for the recipe (usually more). It's from my friend Ines, whose dessert-making skills are legendary. Everyone who's had the pleasure of dining at her house agrees that she's the best cook in Columbia.

This cake is not only super-delicious, it's SUPER easy to make. I almost always keep at least one can of Solo brand pure almond paste in the cupboard in case I need to make a tasty dessert in a pinch.

(The tricky thing about this recipe is the 8-inch cake pan, which might not be standard equipment in your kitchen. I know I only used to have 9-inch cake pans, until I started making my chocolate grappa cake several years back, which required an 8-inch pan. It's kind of a specialty item, though not as specialized as, say, a 20-inch cake pan, which I only just acquired last year. And while I'm on the subject of pans, does it seem to you that they travel in pairs? I mean, when I got my 8-inch cake pans, just like my 9-inch cake pans, I bought two. My mother always had pairs of cake pans, so that's what I did. Most layer cakes are just two layers. But recently I wanted to make a cake recipe that called for three 8-inch layers and I was out of luck because I never anticipated that I might need three such pans.)

I used to get Cooking Light magazine - for years actually - and finallly decided I have enough of them in my possession to never need another magazine or cookbook ever again. But back in the early days of my subscription, I eagerly read every new issue. In November 2004 I was 8 months pregnant, and started making this recipe. We loved it so much that I decided to make it for my son's birth. (This is kind of an odd story for a recipe blog, I realize.) We had a home birth, and the doula had suggested that we have food on hand to feed the birthing team (doula, midwife, and doctor) - in addition to ourselves. After a 28-hour labor, we all really needed the comfort of a rich, hot dish like this one. I had it ready in the refrigerator, and once the baby FINALLY came, we put this in the oven and voila!

Arrange butternut squash in a single layer in a large roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Coat squash with cooking spray. Bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes or until squash is just tender, stirring once. Set aside.

Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Combine 3-1/2 c. milk and rosemary in a 1-quart glass measuring cup, and microwave at HIGH for 5 minutes or until mixture begins to boil. Let stand 10 minutes. Strain milk through a fine sieve into a bowl; discard rosemary.

Lightly spoon all-purpose flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and remaining 1/2 cup milk, stirring flour mixture with a whisk until well blended to form a slurry.

The Yummy Tomatoes lady at the Columbia farmers' market urged me to check out this recipe at Southern Living's website, using buttermilk. I have to admit, these are much yummier than my old way of frying green tomatoes, which was just to dredge them in cornmeal with salt and pepper.

I got this recipe from a Williams-Sonoma catalogue around a year ago, maybe December 2007? I made it twice, and both times, friends demanded the recipe. What's not to like, with all that cream and cheese? I love celery root and love to find new ways to use it. Also this recipe allowed me to use the fancy box slicer that my step-sister-in-law sent me for Christmas last year. But I have to admit, I haven't made this recipe myself in almost a year because it's too rich even for ME, and that's saying a lot!

1 large can of mandarin oranges1 can of pineapple crushed or tidbitscoconut (about 1/2 cup or more if you like)2 bananas cut up1/2 jar of cut up maraschino cherries1/2 cup of mini-marshmallowsabout 1 cup of whipped cream (turns out you can get a natural version of Cool Whip at Clover's, who knew?) OR vanilla yoghurt1/2 cup of chopped pecans

I can understand if this is not to your taste, but I also grew up in the South and have many happy childhood memories based on stuff like this.